Circular No. 70/2007/TT-BNN guiding the development and implementation of community forest protection and development conventions in village communities

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for the Construction and Implementation of Village Community Forest Protection and Development Agreements

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Pursuant to the Forest Protection and Development Law 2004;

Pursuant to Decree No. 23/2006/NĐ-CP dated March 3, 2006 of the Government on the implementation of the Law on Protection and Development of Forests;

Pursuant to Ordinance No. 34/2007/PL-UBTVQH11 dated April 20, 2007 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Implementing Democracy at Communes, Wards, and Towns;

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guides the construction and implementation of Village Community Forest Protection and Development Agreements as follows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. Scope of Application: This Circular provides guidance on the procedures and contents for constructing and implementing Village Community Forest Protection and Development Agreements (hereinafter referred to as Agreements).

Thông tư này áp dụng đối với tổ chức, cá nhân có liên quan đến hoạt động kinh doanh đối tượng thủy sản nuôi chủ lực trên lãnh thổ Việt Nam.

This Circular applies to the following entities:

- Village communities that have been assigned forests by the State in accordance with Articles 29 and 30 of the Law on Forest Protection and Development 2004;

- Village communities residing within or near forests.

3. Forms of Agreement

Depending on the specific conditions of the village community, appropriate forms of Agreement should be selected, including:

a) Specific Agreement: Only provisions regarding forest management, protection, utilization, and development are specified.

b) Comprehensive Agreement: Provisions on forest management, protection, utilization, and development are integrated into the comprehensive agreement of the village community.

4. Definitions

In this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

a) Community forest is a forest assigned by the State to the community for long-term and stable management, protection, development, and utilization for forestry purposes;

b) Community forest management by village communities refers to a form of forest management where village communities, as forest owners, participate in activities such as assigning forests, planning forest management, organizing the implementation of plans, fulfilling obligations and rights, monitoring, and evaluating state-assigned forests;

c) Community forest management board is an organization established by the village community to coordinate activities related to forest management in the village (hereinafter referred to as the Management Board);

d) Village Community Forest Protection and Development Agreement is a set of internal behavioral rules established by the community through majority consensus and voluntary compliance, approved by competent state authorities.

5. Purpose of Constructing and Implementing Agreements

To implement the policy of socializing forest protection and development work, mobilize human resources from village communities to protect and develop forests by combining traditional customs and good practices of the community with state policies and laws.

6. Requirements for Agreements

a) Inherit and promote good traditional customs, morals, eliminate superstitious and illegal penalties; use distinctive language of ethnic groups, simple, easy to understand and implement;

b) Provisions of the Agreement must comply with party guidelines and policies, not contravene legal regulations, and only include content suitable to local conditions and realities; respect personal dignity, reputation, community solidarity, and encourage educational, persuasive, voluntary, public apology, and remediation methods in cases of violation of the Agreement;

c) Strengthen sustainable forest management and use, limit negative impacts affecting forest resources;

d) Ensure fairness in benefiting from forest resources.

II. CONTENT OF THE AGREEMENT

Depending on the specific conditions of each village community, the following issues should be included in the Agreement:

1. Forest Protection Work

a) Regarding shifting cultivation, such as: must cultivate according to planning, controlled burning, preventing spread of fire; intensive cultivation on shifting cultivation land;

b) Regarding forest fire prevention and firefighting, using fire in forests and adjacent areas, and controlling harmful organisms in forests;

c) Regarding grazing livestock in forests;

d) Regarding logging, buying, selling, and transporting timber and non-timber forest products;

đ) Regarding protecting, harvesting, hunting, breeding, and developing wild animals;

e) Regarding mobilizing internal resources of the village community to protect forests and cooperation between the village community and other nearby forest owners in forest protection work.

2. Forest Development Work

a) Regarding location, area, tree species, and time of planting forests;

b) Regarding location, area, enclosure, promotion of natural regeneration, care, enrichment, and undergrowth planting in forests;

c) Various forms of participation by the village community in planting forests, enclosure, promotion of natural regeneration, care, and enrichment, such as centralized planting or allocation to individual households.

3. Other Related Contents

a) Regarding the rights and obligations of community members in forest management, protection, and development, and the distribution of benefits derived from forest management, protection, utilization, and development within the village community;

If the village community has been assigned forests by competent state authorities, it is necessary to carefully discuss the rights and obligations of the community in accordance with Article 30 of the Law on Forest Protection and Development 2004 and related documents;

b) Mutual assistance and support among community members in forest protection and development activities and organizational services for production and consumption of forest products on assigned forest and forest land;

c) Service and eco-tourism activities, traditional festivals in assigned forests;

d) Handling, resolving, and compensating for violations of the Agreement;

đ) Contributions, management, and use of the Community Forest Protection and Development Fund;

e) Rewards and punishments for organizations and individuals within and outside the village community.

III. STEPS FOR CONSTRUCTING THE AGREEMENT

1. Step One: (Preparation)

a) Organize a commune meeting: The Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune chairs a meeting with representatives of commune mass organizations and village chiefs (inviting the Secretary of the commune Party Committee, the Secretary of the village branch, and the Forestry Inspector to attend) to unify the policy, plan, and measures for implementing the Agreement, determining the main objectives of the Agreement in each village community (forest protection or development or both);

b) Collecting materials: After obtaining the opinion of the People's Committee of the commune and the village chief, with the support of the Forestry Inspector and the Legal Department of the commune, collect relevant materials for constructing the Agreement, such as:

- Legal and community regulations on forest protection and development, customs, and community living habits...

- Investigation results on forests, forest land allocation, community forest management plans... (if available);

- Rights and obligations of the community currently being implemented;

- Current status maps, forest resources of the community; diagrams of shifting cultivation planning;

- Other related documents.

c) Organize a meeting with representatives of households in the village community.

The Village Head, with the support of the Forest Rangers, invites and chairs the meeting with representatives of households in the village community, village elders, branch secretaries, Women's Union representatives, Veterans' Association representatives, Youth Union representatives... and invites the Chairman of the People's Committee to attend the meeting.

The meeting agenda includes:

- Agreeing on the procedures and timeline for drafting the Community Forest Management Agreement, selecting the form of the Agreement, and determining the main contents to be stipulated in the Agreement.

- Electing the Forest Management Board and the Chairperson of the Forest Management Board (if not yet established);

The Village Head or village elder serves as the Chairperson of the Community Forest Management Board. Members are selected by the community from organizations such as the Village Branch, Farmers' Union, Women's Union, Veterans' Association, Youth Union... The Chairperson is responsible for directing and supervising forestry activities within the village community.

- Agreeing on the tasks of the Forest Management Board, including:

+ Drafting the community forest management plan;

+ Leading the drafting of the Agreement with the support of local Forest Rangers and the Legal Department;

+ Dividing households into groups and assigning each group to implement the forest management plan, with each group having a group leader and deputy leader;

+ Mobilizing funds and human resources to implement the forest management plan;

+ Inspecting the implementation of the forest management plan, forest harvesting, non-timber forest products, and the distribution of benefits from the forest among the community;

+ Establishing and implementing the budget for the Forest Protection and Development Fund;

+ Preparing periodic reports on the implementation of community forest management for the commune.

- Establishing specialized teams for managing community forests.

Depending on specific conditions, the community may establish specialized teams or interest groups related to forestry (protection, planting, harvesting...).

- Establishing a Forestry Inspection Team, the Forestry Inspection Team has two tasks:

+ Assisting the Village Head in inspecting production activities of the community; resolving disputes, investigating and clarifying violations;

+ Representing the public to monitor the activities of village leaders and the Forest Protection and Development Fund of the community.

2. Step Two: (Drafting and Approving the Draft Agreement)

a) Drafting the Agreement: Based on the resolution of the village representative meeting and the actual situation of the village community, the Chairperson of the Forest Management Board discusses with other members of the Board, drafts the Agreement, and reports to the Village Head after the basic draft is completed.

b) Approving the Agreement

- The Village Head convenes a meeting of voters or household representatives in the village to discuss and approve each section of the Agreement and approve the entire text of the Agreement through voting;

- The Agreement is only approved in the village community when more than 50% of voters or household representatives in the village vote in favor through raising hands or secret ballot;

- If the number of supporters does not reach over 50% of voters or household representatives in the village, the Village Head will organize another meeting. If the meeting cannot be organized again, the Village Head will distribute ballots to households along with the draft Agreement;

- The meeting of voters or household representatives in the village approving the Agreement must be recorded in minutes by members of the Forest Management Board. The minutes clearly record the time, participants, chairperson, invited delegates, contents approved, number of voters or representatives supporting, and signatures of the chairperson and secretary of the meeting.

3. Step Three: (Approving the Agreement)

- Within five working days from the date of the village community meeting approving the draft Agreement, the Village Head sends the draft Agreement and the meeting minutes to the Commune People's Committee;

- Within three working days from the date of receiving the draft Agreement and the meeting minutes of the village community, the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee must prepare a document requesting the District People's Committee to approve the village community Agreement and attach the draft Agreement and the meeting minutes of the village community.

In case of disagreement with the draft Agreement, the Commune People's Committee immediately returns it to the Village Head and provides guidance for revision and completion;

- In case of disagreement with the draft Agreement or the document of the Commune People's Committee, the District People's Committee must immediately return it to the Commune People's Committee and request revisions and completion;

- Within two working days from the date of receiving the document from the Commune People's Committee, the District People's Committee sends the draft Agreement and requests the Legal Department to lead the collaboration with the Forest Ranger Office at the district level to review the Agreement;

- Within five working days from the date of receiving the request from the District People's Committee, the Legal Department advises the Chairman of the District People's Committee to issue a decision recognizing the Agreement (Appendix No. 01 attached). In case of non-recognition, a written response must be provided with clear reasons.

4. Step Four (Implementing the Agreement)

a) Publicizing the Agreement

After the Agreement is recognized by the Chairman of the District People's Committee, the Village Head organizes a meeting of all residents in the village community to announce the Decision approving the Agreement by the Chairman of the District People's Committee, publicize the entire content of the Agreement, and agree on subsequent activities, such as:

- Responsibilities of the Village Head, each resident in the village community, the Forest Management Board of the village community;

- Developing a monitoring plan for the implementation of the Agreement;

- Developing a dissemination and promotion plan for the Agreement, such as organizing broadcasts, printing and distributing the Agreement and leaflets to member households, building diagrams for community forest protection and development...

b) Supervising the Implementation of the Agreement

The Village Head is responsible for supervising and reporting to the Commune People's Committee on the implementation of the Agreement, including:

- Monitoring the implementation of the plan, specifically:

+ Implementing forest harvesting (in the correct location, area, volume, and technique);

+ Management and protection of forests (preventing illegal logging, forest fire prevention and extinguishing, shifting cultivation to prevent forest pests);

+ Other forestry plans (volume, technique, quality, effectiveness);

- Supervise the implementation of the Agreement (violation status, handling measures, benefit sharing...);

- Supervise the Forest Protection and Development Fund, including: sources of revenue and expenditure, effectiveness of fund usage (investment for forest protection, construction and development; support for production, production services, credit...).

c) Evaluation of the Implementation of the Agreement

At the end of the year, the Village Head shall organize meetings with voters or representatives of households in the village to evaluate the implementation of the Agreement, which may be integrated into other community activities to assess the implementation of the Agreement according to the following criteria:

- Economy;

- Forestry and environmental protection;

- Social aspects.

Depending on the capacity and specific conditions, appropriate evaluation criteria should be selected for each rural community (Annex No. 02 attached).

IV. MANAGEMENT, GUIDANCE AND SUPERVISION OF THE AGREEMENT'S CONSTRUCTION AND IMPLEMENTATION

1. Responsibilities of the Forest Protection Department: Direct, guide, and comprehensively inspect the results of the Agreement's construction and implementation nationwide.

2. Responsibilities of Provincial People's Committees

a) Issue mechanisms and policies, organize guidance on the construction and implementation of the Agreement to the subjects specified in Clause 2, Section I of this Circular, in accordance with local actual conditions;

b) Direct relevant state agencies at the local level to integrate programs and projects in the field of forest management, protection, and development to contribute to the construction and implementation of the Agreement.

3. Responsibilities of the People's Committees of districts;

a) Direct the Forest Rangers Station, Legal Office to guide, inspect, and coordinate with the People's Commune Council and the rural community in the construction and implementation of the Agreement;

b) Ensure funding for the construction and implementation of the Agreement according to the consolidated budget estimate for the construction and implementation of the Agreement of each rural community submitted by the People's Commune Council;

The issuance, distribution, settlement, and final accounting of funds for the construction and implementation of the Agreement shall be carried out in accordance with the Law on State Budget and related guiding documents;

c) Decide to recognize the Agreement.

4. Responsibilities of Commune People's Committees

a) Draft a plan for the construction of the Agreement to submit to the County People's Committee and the Forest Rangers Station;

b) Annually, compile the budget estimate for the construction and implementation of the Agreement of each rural community into the commune budget proposal for the People's Commune Assembly to consider and decide;

c) Urge and guide the rural community in the construction and implementation of the Agreement; coordinate with the local Forest Rangers to guide and inspect the implementation of the Agreement;

d) Resolve disputes regarding the construction and implementation of the Agreement within their authority.

5. Responsibilities of the Village Head

a) Chair the construction, implementation, supervision, and evaluation of the Agreement in accordance with the guidelines set forth in this Circular;

b) Chair and coordinate with grassroots political and social organizations and village elders to mediate disputes and violations of the Agreement;

c) Resolve difficulties and obstacles in the construction and implementation of the Agreement.

6. Responsibilities of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

a) Advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue policies related to community forest management, construction, and implementation of the Agreement in accordance with local actual conditions;

b) Develop criteria and indicators for monitoring, evaluating, and guiding the implementation of community forest management and the implementation of the Agreement in accordance with local actual conditions.

7. Responsibilities of Local Forest Protection Agencies

a) Forest Protection Branch

- Take the lead and coordinate with the Forestry Branch and the Department of Justice to advise the Provincial People's Committee on detailed guidance for the construction and implementation of the Agreement in accordance with local practical conditions;

- Direct the Forest Rangers Stations to cooperate with the People's Commune Councils to support rural communities in the construction and implementation of the Agreement in accordance with this Circular;

- Regularly report every six months and annually on the situation of the Agreement's construction and implementation in the area to the Provincial People's Committee and the Forest Protection Department.

b) Forest Rangers Station

- Direct the People's Commune Council and the local Forest Rangers to work with the Village Head to construct and implement the Agreement;

- Regularly report every six months and annually on the situation of the Agreement's construction and implementation to the Forest Protection Branch.

8. Amendment and Supplement to Previously Constructed and Implemented Agreements

For rural communities that have already constructed Agreements for forest protection and development in accordance with Circular No. 56/1999/TT-BNN-KL, the Village Head shall organize an assessment of the Agreement's construction and implementation, and consider amending and supplementing the Agreement in accordance with the guidelines in this Circular.

9. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect 15 days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette and replaces Circular No. 56/1999/TT-BNN-KL dated March 30, 1999, issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on guiding the construction of Agreements for forest protection and development in rural communities, villages, hamlets, villages, and wards.

During implementation, if there are any issues, localities and units should reflect them to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for amendment and supplementation./.